I don't remember if it was you who used this userpic in LJ, but I remembered of it while reading this post, it was a bottom written "fun is my spiritual path". - http://tinyurl.com/2w2dh4h
^_^

I think it's not always that the “focusing on the advancement of one’s soul” is narcisistic, sometimes it's the acknowledgment that we can't change other people, the only one we can change is ourselves (the philosophers talked about it too) and - by doing that - we give the example so other people can do the same and we all get able to evolve together... It's just a "focus" on our improvement, not "only" doing this; we can save/help people from cold/hungry/ill at the same time, and also as a part of such process.

The “kevin smith religion” MAYBE can be because the name of the actor who played the god Ares in Xena was Kevin Smith. Who knows?